Solidarity and cooperation key to contain epidemic

Since the novel coronavirus outbreak in China, many other countries including European Union member states, have provided timely and critical moral and material support for China in its fight against the epidemic.

I am deeply moved by such solidarity at an extremely difficult time for the Chinese people, especially those in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak in the country. But at the same time, I am puzzled why some countries have not heeded the repeated warnings of the World Health Organization to get prepared to fight the disease by seizing the window of opportunity created by China's massive containment and mitigation measures.

Weeks ago, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that no country should assume the virus would not cross its borders. The virus does not respect borders or ideologies, does not distinguish between nationalities or ethnicities, and has no regard for a country's level of development, he said.

Sadly, that has proven true, as the Republic of Korea and Italy, both OECD countries, have seen rapid increases in novel coronavirus cases. None of the 27 EU member states is immune after Cyprus confirmed its first two cases on Monday.

Italy has enforced a nationwide lockdown starting this week, while France and Belgium have banned gatherings of 1,000 people or more. And in Ireland, all St Patrick's Day parades have been cancelled.

After a videoconference with leaders of EU states on Tuesday, European Council President Charles Michel said they had agreed to work together to do everything necessary, and to act swiftly. The EU states stressed the need for a joint European approach and close coordination with the European Commission to fight the disease.

Most of the EU states are rich. But as Italy shows, even excellent healthcare systems can be overwhelmed when the number of novel coronavirus cases skyrockets, a warning that WHO also gave weeks ago.

It's not easy for the EU to implement as many measures as China has done, given that it is a group of 27 sovereign nations and most have open borders. That makes solidarity and coordination among member states even more important to win the battle against the virus.

China, which has been on the forefront of the fight against the virus and has made significant progress in bringing the epidemic under control, is lending a hand to the EU and its member states. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio over the phone on Tuesday, offering solidarity and all necessary assistance to Italy which had earlier wholeheartedly supported China in the fight against the virus.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella visited a school in Rome with a large number of Chinese students in early February and held a special concert a few days later－both to show solidarity with the Chinese people.

Now China is sending much-needed medical supplies, from high quality facemasks and protective suits to pulmonary ventilators and test kits, to Italy to help save lives. China is also providing help for WHO and other countries in the fight against the epidemic.

The novel coronavirus could spread further in the EU before the situation gets better. But it's encouraging to see the EU and its member states stepping up efforts to contain the epidemic, although they should do so even more aggressively.

Furthermore, despite talks by some that the epidemic will accelerate the process of "de-globalization", including moving supply chains out of China, no EU leader seems to share such myopic views.

On the contrary, if the novel coronavirus outbreak has taught the world anything, it is that more international cooperation, not less, is needed to tackle such global health crises since no single country can deal with it alone. That is especially true given the rise of protectionism and unilateralism in some economies in the past years.